


You Know Nothing

by Charlie_Harrison1806



Category: Doctor Who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 03:17:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11660499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie_Harrison1806/pseuds/Charlie_Harrison1806
Summary: "WARNIG! INTRUDER ALERT! ALL SONTARAN'S! WARNIG! INTRUDER ALERT!" The girl still just running. Laughing. Her brown curls flying everywhere. She ran up to the camera. "Hello, let me in please." The little girl was no older than 10 and yet was scaring the Sontaran's into hiding. This little girl was a key. A key to finding River. A key to bring River home.Doctor Who, the companions and the aliens are not mine and belong to the BBC. However the alien race the Remnants is mine.





	1. Prologue

"WARNING! INTRUDER ALERT! ALL SONTARANS! WARNING! INTRUDER ALERT!" The girl still just skipping. Laughing. Her coffee brown curls flying everywhere. The Sontarans ran into the control room double deadlocking the door behind them. She ran up to the camera looking directly into it. "Hello, let me in please." The little girl was no older than 10 and yet was scaring the Sontarans into hiding. This little girl was a key. A key to helping River. A key to bring River back.  
It has been hundreds of years since the Doctor watched River die in the library to save everyone and let them have their time together. Not those times. Not one line! Don't you dare! It's okay. It's okay, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run. She was right. He met her over and over again. Falling more and more in love with her each time. He learnt more about her but could never work out a way of saving her. Until now. The Doctor kept watching the footage. How can a little girl wipe out three whole Sontaran battle fleets? How? "Whats wrong, my love?" The Doctor knew River's time was coming to a close and he struggled. He struggled to keep his green eyes from revealing more than needed to be revealed. From revealing spoilers.  
"I'm just wondering. This little girl, she is what? 10. If that. And yet she still destroyed three Sontaran battle fleets and had them cowering inside the control room in hope to live. They live to fight and receive honour for dying in battle but they would rather be dishonoured than face this little girl. If it were the Daleks they would fight them and probably lose but then the Sontarans are better at strategy than the Daleks but then there is the case of speed and surprise. Also-" WHACK! "Sweetie. You're meant to be talking about this little girl not rambling about whether the Daleks or Sontarans would win a battle."  
"That hurt River."  
"Good." He gave up trying to win and put his thoughts back on the little girl. His thoughts went back to River though. Her death. He was worrying that he would not find this little girl in time. That River would be lost forever and that he will live out his life in the pain and memory of her death.  
"You want to try and find her?" The Doctor snapped back to reality.  
"Yes. Finding her could save the life of someone I lost hundreds of years ago." He realised he had just started to say a spoiler to River because she looked at the Doctor with a look he rarely saw. A look of worry.  
"Who? Who did you lose?" He knew he couldn't say because it was her future, his past. "Someone I can't live without. An old friend. I owe them my life but didn't get to repay my debt." He was telling her the truth through a white lie. They kept watching the clip when River paused it. She zoomed in and saw something. The Doctor too busy remembering her every feature didn't notice until River slapped him back into reality. "Doctor. Look." She pointed to the little girl. She's at the opposite end of the hallway. There's no mistaking it though. The cold, sadistic smile. The stone appearance. "Is she? No that can't be. They don't exist." The Doctor didn't want to believe what he was seeing. He pushed the scanner away and went around the console pressing buttons. River grabbed the scanner back. "Well, she certainly does, sweetie."  
"Remnants don't exist."


	2. Chapter 1

The Doctor and River put in coordinates for the Pond house after agreeing that they did need to go and see them. After a few harsh comments, a slap in the face and the Doctor complaining about the blue boringers being on while holding the red hand print on his cheek, the two arrived at the Pond house...mostly unscathed.  
The two opened the doors of the TARDIS walking out into the cold English air. The Doctor was quite happy to be seeing the Ponds again it has been three days since he saw them last. "Doctor!" The Scottish red head came up to the now scared time lord. "Four years! Four years and you haven't visited once!" The Doctor now smirked. "Well, this time I didn't drive." The Doctor was happy because for once he hasn't landed in the wrong time. He was getting quite egotistical and smirked. Looking over to River, he saw her face and his smirk faded. "This is as early as I could land sweetie." The Doctor hung his head in defeat. "Well, Sorry." He tried to smile only to get slapped...Again. But by Amy not River...for once. "OW! You two are too much alike. I don't like it."  
"Get your timing right and I won't have to slap you." He nodded and followed Amy into the house closely followed by River who was smiling like a maniac.  
The trio walked into the lounge room. Amy made the Doctor sit down and River giggled at what was going on. "Where's Rory?" at that moment a head appeared from around the door frame. "How are you Melody?" Rory was cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen and so couldn't sit down and talk. "I'm great, father dear. Unlike 1 mad man with a box, I know." River turned slightly smirking at the Doctor who had Amy pacing in front of him. Rory laughed then went back to the kitchen. Amy started to lecture the Doctor. "First you said five minutes. You took 12 years. Then you said back in a minute. You took 2 years then you said back in a jiffy and took four years. How long are you going to make me wait? I've already waited 18 years."  
"Sorry?" Amy sighed at the fact that he was always going to be late. She looked at him and saw that something was bothering him. She didn't want to ask but she had to. She fell onto the couch next to him. "Doctor, what is it?" The Doctor looked at her and anyone who knew him knew that whatever was bothering him was annoying him. "There's a video I have-"  
"If it's a video of you and River doing..." Amy made motions with her hand.  
"No it's not. I do hav- actually don't worry. It is a recording of a little girl but she can't exist. They don't exist." Amy glared at the Doctor with a death stare. He quickly got up backing away before he got slapped.  
"What don't exist? And Amy why are you staring at the Doctor like you're going to kill him?" Rory had entered the room presumably having finished the dishes. Rory had heard the commotion but couldn't understand anything that was said. "Remnants. I sent the video to Amy's phone if you want a look."  
"So, Doctor. What is a remnant?" Amy had gotten out her phone having stopped glaring at the Doctor and was watching the video on her phone with Rory looking over her shoulder, both were a little scared of what they were seeing. A little girl skipping around an alien ship with no weapons and not a care in the world while the aliens are all dropping their weapons and running for their life. Who wouldn't be scared? The Doctor walked over to the couch Amy was sitting on, sitting next to her. "Remnants are a species that don't...breed." He was unsure whether he should be explaining this but continued anyway. Wary of Amys maternal instincts. "They are born when a new born dies, before their first breath. The child is killed by two different species, at the same moment in time." He paused again to check Amy was okay. She was a little unnerved. When he was sure she could handle it, he continued. "The chi-" The Doctor was starting the explanation before he was cut off.  
"The new born then consumes the life force of the two individuals that killed the child bringing it back to life. It then has a genetic mutation that lasts until the child dies."  
"River! I was explaining."  
"You were going to slow." She said with a wink. The Doctor blushed a deep red at that. "Remember, I have a sword." Rory said embarrassed and angrily while going red at the thought of his little girl and his best friend. The Doctor quickly stood up, backing away from the angry roman, who was grabbing a sword out of the cupboard.  
"So that, little girl, is a dead little girl with a genetic mutation?" Amy asked a little confused while grabbing the sword form her husband so that the Doctor could explain. And also before both his hearts were being cut out of his chest. "If you want to put it like that. However, the genetic mutation can change. It can change the appearance of the remnants and what they can do. If any living organism can do it, they can too."  
"What do you mean?" The Doctor grabbed Amy's phone, pausing the video where River had paused it earlier that morning. "Right there. The genetic mutation has changed to what she needed. In that moment she was a weeping angel. She can move in the blink of an eye, just like a weeping angel, and goes into quantum lock while being observed like they do" The Doctor was about to start rambling about how useful it would be, when he heard River fall to the floor. He turned to see her clenching the sides of her head and rocking herself back and forth. She was crying. She started to scream. "NO! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"  
The Doctor rushed over to her along with the Ponds. He kneeled down holding her close to his chest trying to comfort her. He was about to ask Amy to get his sonic out of his jacket when he heard something. River started to say the words that were being sung under her breath. The Doctor realised it was what River thought was in her head. "River, it's not in your head." She looked up and directly into the Doctor's eyes. Her eyes were starting to go red and a few tears were still running down her face. The Doctor had never seen her cry and was a little off about it but glad that he could comfort her. For once. "You can hear it? The song. That song"  
"Yes." The Doctor could hear it. It sounded so innocent but he knew it wasn't. He had heard part of it before. Winston had told him when Winston first met Amy.  
Tick tock, goes the clock,  
We laughed at fate and mourned her,  
Tick tock, goes the clock,  
Even for the doctor.  
The Doctor and the Ponds were worried about River. The Doctor grabbed his sonic and checked to see if there was anything alien around. Two alien life forms close by. He put his sonic down next to him and went back to comforting River. Amy got up and ran over to the radio and turned on some music to cover the song while Rory and the Doctor helped River to get up and sit her down on the sofa. Her eyes were red and puffy, she looked pale and tired. She assured them she was feeling a bit better now that they couldn't hear the song but you could see in her, blue washed out, eyes that she was lying. The Doctor didn't want the song to get any louder. After all, they couldn't play the radio any louder without disturbing the neighbours. He picked up his sonic again, now that River should be better and had Rory the Roman looking after her, and went looking for the songs origin.  
He walked out of the lounge room and scanned for the songs origin. Following his screwdriver the whole way. He started walking cautiously the closer he got to the origin of the song. He was walking towards the main bathroom when he came to a closed door...that he had never seen before. He figured that it had a perception filter on it but wondered how long it had been there. Who put it here? Why here? Maybe theyre after Amy and Rory. No that's not right. He opened the door and there, in the middle of the room were two little girls. Singing. They stopped their song looking at the Doctor. One of them started to sing when the other joined in on the verse.  
Tick tock, goes the clock,  
He cradled her, and rocked her,  
Tick tock, goes the clock,  
Even for the doctor.  
The Doctor was getting a little frightened and scanned the two girls. His sonic couldn't determine race but did tell him they were not human. Well, not completely human. He walked into the room towards the little girls. "Hello. Who are you?" The two little girls moved a little bit closer but not a lot. At this point Amy walked in. "Doctor, have you seen th-" she saw the little girls as they scooted themselves away from the Doctor and Amy. "Doctor, are they aliens?"  
"I don't know. Probably." In the silence you could hear the clicking of heels coming closer. In the shadows a person emerged. Smiling. Amy stiffened. "Well, well Doctor. Do you love my little psychopath?" Kovarian.  
"What are you doing here?" The Doctor was angry and being protective but getting nervous. If River saw Kovarian she would break down.  
"Well. I thought I could bring some friends and get my little psychopath back. Ready to try to kill the Doctor again."  
"Never." Amy jumped in because she didn't want to lose her daughter again and that's when they noticed the two silence standing next to them.  
"Silence will fall." Was all the silence said as they moved closer and closer to them. The Doctor and Amy were walking back towards the door. Not taking their eyes off of the Silence "Doctor. Where are you? Amy?" Amy turned to see Rory and River walking through the door. She turned remembering Kovarian but not remembering why she was scared. When she looked back Kovarian was gone. The little girls started to sing again but they were standing now.  
Doctor, brave and good,  
He turned away from violence,  
When he understood,  
The falling of the silence.  
River started to pale because she knew how the song ended. "Doctor. We need to leave. Now." River was worried that they would reveal something the Doctor didn't know yet and she wasn't feeling well. The little girls both looked the same. Like clones. "Wait. They may know where we can look for the little girl." And with that they sang.  
Tick tock, goes the clock,  
And then what shall we see?  
Tick tock, until the day,  
'Till thou shalt marry me.

Tick tock, goes the clock,  
And all the years they fly,  
Tick tock, and all too soon,  
You and I must die.

Tick tock goes the clock,  
He cradled and he rocked her  
But, Tick tock goes the clock,  
'till River kills the Doctor  
And with the end of the song the little girls smiled and then they vanished. The Doctor was stunned. River realised they put out the worst spoiler they could have. "What did they mean 'till River kills the Doctor?'" Amy was worrying more and more and Rory was just out of it. They had all only just found out who River was and now they were being told that she was going to kill him. Before she collapsed River said one word to the others "Spoilers."


	3. Chapter 2

It had been a few days since the little girls in the Pond house. The Doctor was walking around trying to work out why he loved River if she was going to kill him. But, Tick tock goes the clock, 'till River kills the Doctor. He couldn't get those words out of his head. Then again, he wasn't meant to know yet. He kept walking, wondering, listening to those words repeat in his head. He jumped suddenly. "I've got a message." he said almost sarcastically to himself. Pulling out his psychic paper he saw something that made his hearts race and put a smile on his face. Come and get me. x  
"River..." He realised that he was more than happy to go and get her and he felt as if he had to make sure he looked good to see her but he still worried about loving her. He does love her, he won't deny that but he is unsure if it is a good idea. Hell. Humans say you only live once. He went up to the console typing coordinates and a time period so that he would arrive at Stormcage at a time that she was actually there...for once. And just to annoy River he ensured that the handbrake was on and he went to Stormcage. He opened the TARDIS doors to see another police box leaving and that magnificent sound echoing throughout the prison. He assumed she had only just returned. He walked over to see River smiling but it was obvious she was hiding pain behind her eyes. "Honey I'm home."  
"And what sort of time do you call this?" They spoke to each other for a little while. "So, where are we then?" River pulled out her diary and started flipping through the pages "I have just done Manhattan." The Doctor pulled out his diary flipping through. "I've just done Demon's run. Don't think I have done Manhattan. How far is that?"  
"Oh. That's a little while ago. Still At least we are close to the same time stream. And don't worry about Manhattan." As she said it you could hear that there was something to worry about.  
"Was that a future or past me?"  
"Future. He did Manhattan with me." She looked sad. He could see her smiling, but it was fake.  
"So why did you send me a message if you already had me?" She looked at him confused and was about to say something when the two heard the voice of a little girl and two guards. River's eyes shifted to behind the Doctor so he turned around to see what she was looking at. "You don't need to push. It hurts."  
"You're a murderer. Yeah. We're going to push you." The guards started to laugh. The little girl. She was being pushed into the cell next to River. "Doctor. It's her." The Doctor was going to talk to the little girl when he remembered that he was trespassing and the TARDIS was not invisible. The two guards looked at him after locking up the little girl. "Hey. How did you get in here?"  
Get him." They ran towards the Doctor, readying their weapons to shoot him. "Oh. Sorry. Got to be going now." He ran into the TARDIS and turned it invisible hoping the guards would think he had left. They did. He walked out, letting River out on his way to the little girl.  
He walked up to the cell door. He put his face on the bars looking into the cell. "Hello there. I'm the Doctor. Who are you?" The little girl was sitting in the corner of her cell on the bed. She turned her head smiling at the crazy man in front of her. "Charlie." She got off her bed, walking calmly and with a purpose over to the strange man in a bow tie. Her smile never leaving her face. "What are you doing here Charlie?" The Doctor crouched down to her height and looked at her. She looked straight at him and giggled slightly before answering. "I killed someone. Two people actually." She broke into a full on laughed at that. The Doctor looked at her with concern and worry. He stood up and took a step back. River joined his side and they both looked at the little girl who was still in partial darkness. She was still laughing. "Who did you kill?" She stopped laughing and smiled in an adorable way and the Doctor looked into her eyes. They were a green colour similar to his. Her curls were a coffee brown and went down to her shoulders. "I'll show you." The little girl put her hand on the lock to her cell, closed her eyes and the cell door opened. When she opened her eyes the Doctor looked at her in awe. She can open a lock without breaking it. "That was a cool trick. I can do that with this." the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver to show her. She laughed. "That's a little out of date now but hey someone has to be retro. Retro is cool."  
"What about fezzes and bowties? Are they cool?" He was desperate to hear someone else say that they were cool. Hopefully, it would make River less likely to destroy his fezzes...well, his hat room.  
"They are Retro as well so yeah Bowties are cool and fezzes are cool." She smiled again. She walked out of her cell and into the lightened hallway, while the Doctor did his drunken giraffe dance as a victory dance. She looked down at her feet, giggled a little bit, then looked back up to the Doctor. He stopped his dance and River had been looking away from embarrassment. The Doctor looked at Charlie and saw that she was looking at him. But this was different. The Doctor recognised the sinister look in the girl's eyes, after all he saw it every time River had an insane idea or was planning someone's death. "River."  
"Yes my love?" River turned around and looked over at the Doctor to see that he was a little frightened. She looked at the little girl and deducted that that look was what he was scared of. "Run." And with that, they ran. The Doctor grabbed Rivers hand and they ran as fast as they could. They ran past the TARDIS not wanting the little girl to follow them in there but when River looked back, all she saw was the hall and two cell doors wide open. No little girl. Suddenly, something hard was in front of her chest, stopping her from continuing forwards. She turned to see the Doctor's arm was stopping her. She looked at him and was about to say something when she noticed his gaze. She looked to where his gaze was and saw in front of her, the little girl smiling the exact same smile that they ran from. "How did you do that?" The Doctor was worried and it laced his voice as he spoke. "I'm a Remnant." The duo walked backwards slowly being followed by the little girl.  
"Yes, but 2 things. Remnants don't exist and 2 Remnants are constantly having their DNA change to what they need as long as a living organism can do it. Living organisms don't teleport. Machines around them do but not living organisms." The Doctor couldn't get his head around it and you could see that in his facial expression.  
"My turn. 2 things. I do exist and it doesn't have to be alive. It just needs a conscious state or telepathic connection." River knew straight away what it meant.  
"My love?" she realised it still hadn't clicked in the Doctor's head. "Penny in the air." After a few moments she could see on the Doctor's face he realised what it meant. "Penny's dropped."  
"You can use the TARDIS' abilities of traveling through space and time." The little girl nodded while smiling. "Also, I owe you two dead bodies. How would you like them rare or medium-rare?" The little girl laughed at her joke. She kept laughing and harder when she saw River's and the Doctor's faces. "How about...alive?"  
"Can't do that. I have stalked the two people from birth to death and I don't like the amount of pain I get when I cause a paradox. It hurts real bad." She rubbed her head and her shoulder. "Um...well I don't know that we want to see two cooked bodies."  
"I didn't cook them they just are a little hard to find at this point in time. I was asking if you wanted to go back in time and see them just after they died or just see their skeletons?"  
"Let's go whatever is easier." The Doctor was glad River had dealt with that. He smiled a wary smile to her then looked down at the little girl. "Alright then. Let me show you." She held out her hand. A little hand. No weapon, nothing. "What are you going to do to us?" Both the Doctor and River thought she was going to kill them not take them back in time. River was amazed at herself. She had never been so scared in her life. The Doctor, on the other hand, was so scared of this little girl that she could see the Daleks offering her anything to work with them. "I'm going to show you my first kill."


	4. Chapter 3

The Doctor and River grabbed Charlie's hand and in the blink of an eye they were on Skaro. The planet of the Daleks. "What are we doing here?" The Doctor's voice, again laced with fear, was the only sound on the entire planet. There was no whir of movement anywhere. No electronic voices, no hover pads. Nothing anywhere. River pulled out her scanner and started to scan the world and search for the year. "Well sweetie. At least we are not being killed by the natives. Let's see, we are in the year...oh." River's face paled as she looked at her scanner. "It's the year 66709. The year after the entire Dalek race was completely destroyed. And not by you my love." She turned to look at Charlie. The Doctor saw this and he turned to look at the strange being crouch in front of them. She stood up feeling the eyes on her back. "Sorry, my bad. They got in the way while I was chasing my...martyr." River and the Doctor were taken aback by her choice of words. What on Gallifrey? "Wait. What?! Hang on. You killed an entire race of beings, to kill two people?" The Doctor realised that he wanted to ask how but decided against it. "Yes. Don't say you cared. I know you didn't like them."  
The Doctor and River stared at this little girl who seemed to be admiring her decaying planet. She smiled every time she saw evidence of a life now lost. She crouched down looking at something at her feet. "Why did you kill them?" Charlie turned to face the Doctor after standing up from her crouched position. "As I said. I was chasing my toys and the Daleks would try to kill them or would try and kill me. Pitiful excuse of a life form if you ask me." She threw something to the Doctor that he didn't recognise until he held it in his hands. An eye stalk. The Doctor dropped it and stepped away from it. "Come on. Otherwise a worse species will take the planet and kill you both." She turned and started to walk away from them. The Doctor and River ran to catch up.  
The three of them wondered the planet and to River, it seemed as if Charlie had no idea of where she was going and yet she was sure of her path around the planet. "Where are we?" Charlie turned her head slightly. Looked around a bit then faced River and answered. "The main breeding area. We are ten minutes from the place of death." She continued on her walk followed by River and the Doctor. The Doctor sighed at another ten minutes of walking and until it was too late, River and the Doctor learnt that you should never sigh near a Remnant. "Do not do that. That is disrespectful and I will not hesitate to kill you next time. Or maybe I will torture River and then kill her right in front of you instead. I'm sure you would love explaining that to the Ponds." Both River and the Doctor held their breath and wondered how she knew about the Ponds. River was amazed she didn't try to kill Charlie for that. Then again. She wasn't sure about the extent of Charlie's strength. Charlie smiled the whole time but you could see she was serious. She let the Doctor go and River helped him up. "How old are you? You have a grip of stone and the strength of an entire Sontaran army." At that point the Charlie's smile dropped. "You don't know?" She looked desperate. As desperate as the Doctor had merely thirty minutes ago. "No, we don't. Are we meant to? We are not mind readers."  
"No. You're not. I know that." She looked down to the ground and started to shake a little bit. "Are you...crying?" River walked forwards cautiously, putting her hand on the little girl's shoulder after making sure the Doctor could stand. Charlie turned into River and hugged her as she cried. "What's wrong?" River felt like vomiting again but held it down and tried to hide it. Charlie looked up at River looking her dead in the eyes. "I got my times mixed up again. I came to early. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to. I will do better. I promise just please don't do it again." River felt some sort of connection to Charlie but couldn't put her finger on why. "What do you mean?" The Doctor had come over to comfort Charlie as well but Charlie seemed to cry harder and she flinched every time the Doctor or River lifted their arm.  
"I can't say. Here." She put her hand out again. The Doctor and River took it and, again, in the blink of an eye they had moved. They were standing inside the TARDIS and Charlie was already walking out the door.  
"Wait. Charlie." The Doctor went after Charlie hoping to get her to help save River.  
"I can't Doctor. I know what you want but I can't. If I do she will continue to meet you in the wrong order. Meeting you for the first time every time she meets you. That would be hell on her." She turned, her eyes still showing evidence of her sorrow.  
"No. I can go back and grab her. Bring her back to this time period and she can travel with me. Every day. Never meeting in the wrong order again." Just then the alarm at Stormcage went off. "Please Charlie." Charlie closed the TARDIS doors and the Doctor turned away from the door frustrated. He decided that he would divert his thoughts away from her a little longer. He ran up to the console and was about to ask River where she wanted to go when he realised River wasn't there. "Sexy, where has River gone?" The TARDIS hummed an answer and a video clicked onto the scanner showing River in the main bathroom head over the toilet vomiting.


	5. Chapter 4

Charlie had teleported to the Library and was going to try and save River. The Doctor said he would keep her safe and stop them from meeting in the wrong order. Charlie was unsure if she should do this. No! I must do this. She located the tenth reincarnations TARDIS and made sure that the Vashta Nerada wouldn't come near her. When she was sure she was safe and that anyone that was near her would be safe, she sent a message to the eleventh reincarnations psychic paper telling him that she was going to try and save River. She walked down to the hard drive in the center of the planet. She saw the Doctor and River. River was telling him how he had always known how she was going to die. After a little while she was telling him that he still had everything to come. You and me. Time and space. You watch us run. Then, she was dead. She waited for when the tenth reincarnation to put the neural relay into the hard drive. After half an hour, he was leaving and River's conscious was in the hard drive. Charlie walked over to the computer. She knew how this worked. She couldn't think of it like that though. This is for River and the Doctor. She put her hands on the computer, to access the sonic screwdrivers capabilities, when the familiar sound of the TARDIS rang through the air. She moved her hands away and looked towards the TARDIS.  
"Have you done it yet?" the Doctor was smiling as he ran out of the TARDIS doors. Never again. He tripped as he exited falling flat on his face. Charlie giggled but again. Never will that happen before me.  
"Not yet." Charlie placed her hands down on the computer as the Doctor got up on his feet. She closed her eyes and just breathed. After a few moments there was a glow. The Doctor looked over at Charlie smiling. Both Charlie and a small area in front of the hard drive were glowing. Then, a solid shape formed in front of the seat that River had died in. It was laying down and bit by bit the features of a woman started to form. In just moments River lay before the Doctor...Alive. He ran to River's side and wrapped his arms around her. He looked up to thank Charlie and saw she was gone. "Charlie?" The Doctor was worried but said no more. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned for Vashta Nerada. Nothing. He scanned River and was pleased to see normal life signs. He waited patiently for River to wake up. After what seemed like an eternity, her eyes opened. "Hello sweetie." She smiled at the Doctor, when her eyes changed to concern. "Wait. I'm dead. Sweetie please tell me you ar-"  
"No. You're not dead. I'm not dead. You were dead but do you remember the little girl?"  
"Charlie?"  
"Yeah. She came here to save you. She came back in time to save you. She pulled you out of the hard drive and gave you a physical form."  
"Where is she?" River looked happy but over happy. Not the thankful happy but more. The Doctor's smile fell and he mumbled something that was inaudible. "My love?"  
"I don't know where she is. There are no Vashta Nerada here and she just vanished." River's smile wavered. "Do you think we will see her again?"  
"I don't know." Charlie had vanished as if not existing. River and the Doctor walked to the TARDIS. The Doctor helped River sit down in the pilots chair. He then scanned her body with the TARDIS' scanner and even the TARDIS agreed. River's alive. "Let's travel." The Doctor ran around the console turning the hand brake off and putting the blue boringers on for River. They travelled to a time that they both could go so that they didn't cause a paradox. "Wait, Doctor. If we cause a paradox won't that make Charlie come out to investigate?" Neither really understood Remnants so why not guess. The Doctor looked deep in thought about this. "Possib-" BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Break BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Break. The Doctor pressed a button on the TARDIS console that showed messages. A form appeared. Pixelated but there. The form was Charlie. "Doctor. River. If you are seeing this means that I am dead. Remnants die on only one condition but I cannot tell you that. If I am dead then I have died after saving River. My whole life I have spent trying to find a way to save her because I have a travel pattern similar to hers. I know the pain of seeing those you love and having them not recognising you. The people I killed had information on how I could save her. I tried. I am hoping I succeeded. Could be kind of awkward if I didn't. For a few weeks there may be a problem with River's train of thought and her speech. It will pass. Before I leave you alone though, I have a request. I never got to ask for something in return Doctor. And you owe my dead body. I ask that if you end up having a daughter, please name her Charlie after me. It would make me quite happy. Enjoy yourselves and take care of each other or I will come back and my ghost will kick your butts."  
The hologram dissipated while the Doctor and River smiled. Now there was no more hologram and there was no more Charlie. The Doctor looked over to River who was looking down at her stomach now and had a hand on her stomach. "She knows that I died while I was pregnant." Didn't look up. "It was going to be a girl. She knew. I didn't tell anyone." The Doctor was amazed. River had been pregnant with his child. Wait. Was it my child? "Was it mine?" River looked up into his eyes and smiled weakly. He took this as confirmation. He sighed lightly. I was going to be a father again. Hm. "Did you want kids River?" He seemed amused at the idea of a domestic TARDIS. "I do want children. But how would we care for them?" The Doctor laughed. "We just would."


	6. Chapter 5

The Doctor kept River by his side and for three years they had spent their life travelling the same way in time but always looking for the younger version of Charlie. The two were loving life and often the Doctor day dreamed. "River. You're back." The Doctor ran up to his wife hugging her tight. River looked confused at the Doctor. "How long was I gone?" The Doctor bobbed his head sideways a couple of moments. "40."  
"Minutes? Days? Years?"  
"Seconds." The Doctor smiled at himself. River laughed at him. She had been gone a lot longer.  
It had been three weeks since River left and came back in 40 seconds. "Doctor!"  
"Sorry River. What's up?"  
"Phone." River rolled her eyes at her daydreaming husband. But laughed in mockery of him. They had grown to love each others company and if they needed a break from each other they got it. They enjoyed seeing each other every morning after waking up and every night before going to sleep. Well every night that they went to bed.  
"Hello?" He picked the phone up still looking at his beautiful wife who was still laughing at him. Then he heard the voice on the other end of the phone. His eyes froze. His breathing stopped. He went cold. River stopped laughing when she saw the Doctor's demeanour change. She started to worry and walked up next to her husband, placing her hands on his shoulders as some sort of comfort. "That won't happen!" He threw down the phone and started yelling at how someone was going to die. Nudging River's hands off his shoulders he ran around the TARDIS console pressing buttons and pulling levers. "Sweetie. What's wrong?"  
"It's Charlie." He said sternly and with a cold tone. After moments the sound of the handbrake being left on rang through their ears. The Doctor, closely followed by River, ran out the TARDIS doors. "Doctor. Why are we here? Of all places, why do we have to be on Demon's Run?" The air was just as cold as River remembered and she could see Strax's dead body. It was just moments after she had told Amy and Rory that she was their daughter. Amy and Rory. She shook the thought out of her head and she looked over to the Doctor to see he was gone. "Doctor?" There was no reply from him. There was a reply though.  
"Demon's Run. When a good man goes to war."  
"Hello? Who's there?" River grabbed out one of her many hidden weapons and started moving towards the voice.  
"Night will fall and drown in sun  
When a good man goes to war"  
"Doctor? Charlie?"  
"Friendship dies and true love lies  
Night will fall and the dark will rise  
When a good man goes to war"  
"River?" There in the shadows was her mad man with a bow tie.  
"Doctor. What's going on?"  
"The phone call was Kovarian saying she had an earlier version of Charlie. I even heard Charlie. Kovarian is going to kill her so that you can never be brought back."  
"That will cause a paradox. It won't work."  
"Charlie is a remnant. I don't want to admit it but killing a Remnant doesn't cause a paradox. Whatever the Remnant has done is undone but no par-  
"Demons run but count the cost  
The battles won but the kids are lost"  
"That's not right. It's 'the child is lost' not kids"  
"Thanks for reminding me that I was here two separate times in my life."  
"River think about it. The poem is Demons run but count the cost. The battles won but the child is lost. The poem said just then was the kids are lost. You were the only child."  
"Not true Doctor. I see your 'bespoke' psychopath hasn't yet told you all she knows about Charlie." Kovarian's voice was so cocky and yet worrying. The Doctor and River turned around to see Kovarian walking towards them with 2 Silents by her side and a small child between them.  
"What haven't you told me? River?" The Doctor was genuinely curious about what she hadn't told him. He looked to River and saw her knees give way under her dropping her to the floor. River was crying. A site the Doctor rarely saw.  
"Kovarian. Don't. She's just a child."  
"Were you not more than an infant 'River Song'?"  
"Yes but I hadn't gotten used to having a family. Let her go and I won't kill you." River pulled out her sonic blaster. One of many on her person at all times. "If you kill me, Melody. Charlie dies." Kovarian smiled and it was so sinister and so evil. "River?" The Doctor walked over to his crying wife wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he crouched down next to her. "River." He put his hand on the end of the gun, that his distraught wife was aiming at Kovarian's head; pushing it down. She dropped the gun and did something the Doctor had never thought she would do. She begged. "Please. Kovarian. Whatever you want with her don't do it. Take me and let her go." Kovarian smiled but refused saying "If that's what you want, why would I? Your husband" spitting out the word. "still doesn't know any more about Charlie then when he got here. Why don't you tell him?" The Doctor was worried about how Kovarian knew more than him about something that River knew. How? "Her name is Charlie Alexandra Song. She's our daughter."  
The Doctor fell back from his knees and had to put his hands on the floor to stop himself from falling too far backwards. Kovarian smiled while the Doctor tried to get his bearings. "She's...When?" The Doctor got back up on his knees and wrapped an arm around River. "She knew that she saved me from the Library because otherwise she wouldn't exist. I died before I had the first child so she wasn't the first, but she existed because we were both alive. Remnants die if they save the life of a parent. That's why she died when she saved me. I'm her mother. You're her father. That's why she likes bow ties and fezzes. A few weeks ago remember how I said I needed some time to myself so you visited my parents. I came back only 40 seconds later to you. I was gone three years." The Doctor had the expression of hurt but joy. "She's my daughter. Why didn't you tell me?" She shook her head a little. "I was going to but I couldn't. How was I meant to tell you that you had watched your daughter die to save your wife? Or that You asked her to try and find a way to save me because you didn't know she was your daughter? She killed those people to save me. She lost her life to save me and neither of us knew it. She dies twice saving me. I couldn't live with that and I couldn't bring myself to tell you that."  
"What do you mean she dies twice to save you?" River looked straight into the Doctors eyes and he knew what she meant. "Geez. If I had known it would take this long for him to find out I would have killed her first." The duo on the floor looked at Kovarian smiling as if nothing bad could happen. "Why are you smiling? Your daughter is going to die."  
"Yes. Yes, she is." The two kept smiling but at the back of River's and the Doctor's mind they didn't want to be doing this. Kovarian turned to kill Charlie to get kicked in the face and fell on the ground, both the Silents had been killed while she was talking. Charlie ran over to River and hugged her. River hugged back and the Doctor couldn't stop staring. "Charlie. Who is that?" The four year old girl looked to her mother, then to the man next to her. "DADDY!" She leapt over to the Doctor, wrapping her arms and legs around him, holding him tight.


	7. Epilogue

Charlie is heading to the library. She has killed many to save River. She is stuck in a time fix. She will always die saving River and will never live if she doesn't. Saying goodbye to the Doctor and River for the last time. To the parents who know who she is. She turns sending her curls into an avalanche falling in front of her face. She gets down on one knee hugging her little brother and little sister. "Why are you saying goodbye?" Jack was very close to his sister and was crying. His words had come out as a muffled sob. "I am going away for a long, long time. I don't want to leave without saying goodbye." Jack Rory Song was the second born followed by his younger sister Amelia Donna Song. The three children hugging and the two youngest crying in the arms of their big sister was a moving scene for the Doctor.  
While saying goodbye the Doctor had given Charlie something. A neural relay. Yes, she had to die. But not completely. Charlie had kept it by her to save her 'echo' like the Doctor had asked. Before she tried to save River and before the Doctor arrived she placed the neural relay into the hard drive to save herself before she died.  
The Doctor and River never forgot Charlie and when River died and both Jack and Amelia had passed on, the Doctor continued to remember his family. The family he could have and did have.  
Saying goodbye is never easy. We have to face the past to say goodbye and try to turn back to the future without the bad memories. We take the lives of our family and friends in our stride, never looking back for if we do, we fear that we will never turn back around. We hold our heads high and keep moving forwards hoping that the pain will go and our lives will continue. Some get caught on the pain and it stops them from turning. As long as you live and remember the happy times you can get through. The pain subsides and life is cherished. Never look at the bad memories of the past, remember the good ones. No matter what happens in our lives, we will always have good and bad memories in our future that will be our past. As the saying goes. Tomorrow never comes, but yesterday is in the past. Look forward to what will happen, not what has happened.  
Remember this and keep moving forward.  
Written in memory of Matthew 'Midge' Carter, leaving behind his family. I will always miss you.


End file.
